


Walking

by K0USEKI



Category: Fallout 4
Genre: Alcohol, Anxiety, Canon Dialogue, Canon Divergent, Depression, Drug Addiction, Drug Use, Eventual Fluff, Eventual Relationships, Eventual Sex, Eventual Smut, F/M, Guns, Mental Health Issues, Mental Instability, Porn With Plot, Porn with Feelings, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Retelling, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-25
Updated: 2016-11-30
Packaged: 2018-07-18 03:16:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 16,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7297249
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/K0USEKI/pseuds/K0USEKI
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nineteen year old Elle Walker put her dream on hold to help her brother Nate raise his child when his wife Nora died giving birth. Although when the bombs fell she was thrown into a nightmare. With her brother dead and her nephew taken, she scours the new world afraid, beaten yet determined. She was going to find the rest of the world and keep a promise; keep her nephew Shaun safe.<br/>All she needed to do now, was track down the American Army and beg for their help. The only thing was, there was no American Armed Forces left, and the Brotherhood of Steel was the closest thing to it.<br/>Mostly just my Sole adjusting to the new world and dealing with personal issues and problems.<br/>Story retelling at the beginning but divergence will come soon!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Sunshine and Blood

**Author's Note:**

> “Elle” is pronounced just like the letter “L” !!  
> Intro chapter, there will be some time skips to make sure things aren’t boring!!
> 
> For more information about Elle feel free to check out this info here – http://sta.sh/012v56ajk3yo  
> which is based on her after living in the commonwealth for 1 year. Or you can find things out as you read~
> 
> Also the story will be mostly Sole/Danse with a bit of Sole/Hancock and Sole/MacCready! No three/foursomes or anything like that!!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Intro Chapter, Story retelling for the first chapter or so and the beginnings of Elle's hardships she'll have to face in the commonwealth.  
> Little comic/sketch page here to go with the chapter - http://fallout4reacts.tumblr.com/post/147063406657/tried-my-luck-at-drawing-comics-elle-had-fancy

It was almost her twentieth birthday. Only two days after Halloween she would have turned twenty years old. She would have been celebrating in her new house, taking care of her nephew Shaun and spending time with her brother who was still grieving. But instead, war had spread across the world and she was shoved into a vault, and into a cryochamber where everything had gone dark.

A sharp intake of breath sounded through the tiny chamber as she unfroze. Her eyesight was blurry and hearing muffled but the sound of Shaun crying was clear as day. She was relieved by the sound, comforted by the thought of Nate still being there with him.

“Nate?” She called into the cool chamber, her own voice echoing, trapped inside the metal walls. Other voices could be heard outside, and she lifted her arm up to wipe away the frost from the small window. “Nate, Nate are you okay? Are you with Shaun?” She asked again, her senses still lagging behind, seemingly still frozen as she had been. She tried to maneuver, to get herself out of this crazy tube but she couldn’t. Instead she pressed her face closer to the glass to try and see and hear what was happening outside. She could hear what sounded like one of the chamber opening and the familiar sound of Nate coughing and talking to the people who surrounded him and Shaun. 

“Don’t take him. No, No I got him!” She could hear Nate, muffled but clear as he spoke sternly above the rest of the group there. Were they trying to take Shaun? Elle rubbed her eyes with her hands and shook her head trying to rub out the blurriness.

“I’m not giving you Shaun!” He yelled again louder this time and when Elle pressed her face against the glass again, able to see a little clearer. She was met with the image of a dark figure and the deep voice of a man demanding the child from his Father. And before she knew what was happening, the same man pulled out a gun and shot Nate once, killing him in front of her.  
She stood in shock, the sound of the firearm ringing in her ears as her eyes finally adjusted. The dark man approached her chamber now staring her down as she simply stood back in shock, eyes wide and already filling with tears.

“At least we still have the backup.”

And then everything went dark again.

 

\----

 

The sound of Elle taking a sudden large breath once again filled the cavity of the cryochamber although was nearly completely muffled to her own ears. The machine whirred as it kicked back into action, unfreezing her and opening the door.

Her lungs cleared themselves, forcing violent coughs from her throat as she tumbled forwards out of the pod, catching herself with her hands on the cold floor. Confused upon her sudden release coupled with an almost complete lack of vision and hearing, she stumbled backwards towards her previous home inside the chamber. Breathing heavily she reached for her eyes trying to rub away the cloudiness. When her fingers felt the dry tears stains on her cheeks, her memories caught up with her as she suddenly looked up. Her mouth curving up in anger while simultaneously curving down in fear and sadness. She still couldn’t see and her ears were ringing but she stood herself up, taking steps toward the cryopod in front of her that held Nate. She pounded on the door, hoping that maybe, just maybe that he was okay. She shook her head again hoping to clear her senses a bit. She could hear the muffled incessant beeping from the chamber indicating “emergency”. Turning to what she could make out was a computer she leaned only a couple inches from the monitor to read “Deceased” typed out across the black screen.

She closed her eyes tight, like she was trying to squeeze the word she had read back out like if she hadn’t read it, it wasn’t true. Turning back to the chamber she leaned her forehead against the cool metal, tears once again flowing from her eyes. 

How could this have happened? What had she done to deserve this? Moreover what did Nate do to deserve this, both him and his wife were dead and his son missing.

Shaun was missing that’s right.

She slumped down against the chamber that held her deceased brother, putting her head in her hands as she sobbed. How was she supposed to save him? She had no idea how long it had been between waking up now and the first time or even how long she had been down here at all. She couldn’t see or hear right and she was so completed overwhelmed she felt hopeless. She sat there for a good half hour, sobbing and cursing herself for all that had happened. Eventually, she pulled herself together. Someone had to save Shaun, and she was the only family he had now. It was her responsibility to care for him that’s what she’d signed up for and what she told Nate she would do. She would find him and save him and take care of him. No matter what.

Standing from her spot, rubbing her eyes again, now free of tears but still clouded over. She readied herself to move.

She pressed forward, avoiding looking at the other pods as she passed, not wanting to keep that memory despite not being able to see clearing. She proceeded slowly, not wanting to stumble or be jumped by whoever had opened her own chamber. Every few steps she would shake her head, trying to get her ears to work to have at least something to help her navigate the hallways of the vault, but to no avail. Pulling a Pipboy from a skeleton, eventually she made it out of the vault corridors without incident. And with squinty focused eyes she plugged the Pipboy in and opened the vault to the world above, leaving the machine behind as she moved towards the exit.

Stumbling off the elevator, the light outside nearly blinded her again, she couldn’t see anything now, her eyes trying to adjust to the drastic change in lighting while still trying to fight off the cloudy repercussions from being frozen. The earth looked... The same? Well, almost through her cloudy vision just... more brown but then again the whole thing was just a huge blur so she wasn’t sure, and the eerie quietness almost scared her to thing she had gone deaf.

Shaking her head once again, dark maroon hair pieces now covering her forehead after slipping loose from her victory rolls she carried on. She followed the path she remembered taking up here, and she could see the outlines of bodies and clothes that littered the ground. She kept her eyes forward trying to ignore them as she wandered back towards Sanctuary Hills.

She huffed loudly, her muscles aching from under usage. Stumbling blindly down the path she crossed the bridge, her boots making a distinct sound as her hearing almost completely cleared up. She relied now on the sound of dead grass and dirt beneath her feet, turning to the left behind the rows of houses to stay hidden and off the road, in case someone was watching her after freeing her from the vault.

Something shined into her eyes, like metal reflecting the sun and the recognizable shape of a Mr. Handy robot became clear as she approached her dwelling.

“C-Codsworth, is that you?” she almost stumbled over her own words, like she was questioning if she was crazy or not.

“As I live and breathe!” The robot called back, floating over to her between the two houses where she stood. The sound of his engine whirred quietly as he approached and Elle roughly rubbed her eyes once again, this time almost completely clearing them before they welled up again with tears.

“Codsworth I-“ She was about to ask what was happening, the clear decay around her now clearer and scarier than ever but the sudden commotion in the silence had attracted the attention of something more sinister and less heartfelt than an old robotic friend. From the trees past the small river a large Yao Guai lunged for her small frame, digging its huge claws into her back and pinning her against the dry ground behind her house. She screamed out initially as the force of the impact winded her and the pain more intense than anything she held felt in her entire life. 

“Ms. Elle!” Codsworth called back, using his built in saw to try and get the creature off of her. The bear growled back, digging it's claws in deep and flipping Elle over as it turned its attention to the Mr. Handy. Elle gasped for air, winded from the sheer weight of the creature and the pain of being flipped over on her back. She could feel warmth pooling underneath her as she tried to regain her composure. Her head pounded and she could hardly think, her vision that had just nearly returned started to fade again after being thrown around but she managed to pull her knife out of her boot that she remembered hiding from the vault tech employee during the initial containment. She had absolutely no idea what she as up against, but she new it was big and that it wasn't good news. Codsworth was doing his best and managed to get in a couple good swings, and even activated his flamer, burning the creature but eventually got shoved away in a fit of anger by the Yao Guai and it had turned his attention back to Elle, his prey. She braced herself for the blurred flesh that barreled towards her, her vision clouded with tears and pain. She swung her knife in its direction sinking it deep into the creature’s shoulder. Although that hadn’t nearly been enough to stop it and had only made it angrier. Elle lifted her arms and tried to shield her face as it came at her again, taking its claws deep into her left forearm and forehead, nearly catching her eye.

As blood pooled in her eye, making her even blinder than she was, she frantically searched for her weapon. The bear sunk it’s teeth into her left shoulder, causing her to cry out once again in pain. Her eyes watered making her vision blurry and she could feel her head getting lighter as she tried her hardest to push the animal off her. It was impossible this was how it was going to end.

Just as she was about to give into her fate she could hear Codsworth again, calling out frantically “Ms. Elle!!” as he tried to rush over to her again. The familiar concern from the Mister Handy snapped her back to her senses.

She was not going to go down like this, she still had to save Shaun and avenge her brother, no matter what it takes!

Blindly finding her knife stuck in the bear’s shoulder and she fought the creature off with her arms she grabbed it, pulling it from the bears flesh stopping his assault on her shoulder, as the creature got closer and closer to her neck. And with one lucky swing, the sun and blood in her eyes she hit the Yao Guai right in the eye. Hearing his distress she plowed her knife further in, not letting her grip loosen like she had before and her other hand reached for the knife as well to double the force. She was running off pure adrenaline and determination as she fought for her life and as the creature tried to pull away she sat up and ripped the knife out and stabbed again. And again and again in a frenzy of rage and fear.

When the bear finally fell and Codsworth had his wits back about him, he flew over to Elle’s side who was breathing heavily exhausted and critically injured, on her hands and knees facing the ground. Her dark hair stuck to her bloodied forehead and he fingers that were covered in a mixture of the creature's and her own blood gripped the dry grass beneath her. Her one eye tightly clamped shut and her back absolutely gushing blood from five long claw marks that ran right through the back of her vault suit.

“Codsworth, what the hell is going on?” She managed to breathe out before passing out in her yellow, bloodied lawn that used to be so green and perfect before the war.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! I appreciate any feedback!!  
> EDIT; Fixed a some spelling/grammar errors


	2. Strength and Holotapes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Elle struggles with her memories and physical pains as she learns what became of the world.

She came to life with a gasp, filling her lungs with air as the building pressure ached her now bruising ribs. She sunk into the mattress wincing at the overwhelming pain.

“Oh Miss Elle! You’re awake! Oh thank goodness!” Codsworth whirred into the room, ecstatic to see his master conscious again after the brutal attack. Elle kept her one eye shut, the adhesive of the bandage of her forehead making it difficult to open her eye. She looked around the room confused, the memories of the vault, and the attack came rushing back in an instant as she took in the faded blue colour of the nursery walls. She closed her eyes again, a pained expression still on her face as she realized that all had been reality and not some horrible bad dream 

“Codsworth…” She breathed out gently, the wounds on her neck making it difficult to talk as every movement made her muscle ache. “What happened to the world?” She asked in a small voice, tears welling up in her eyes again, thinking of how this was supposed to be Shaun’s room, until she moved in and the crib has been moved into Nate’s room so she could use this one. The dresser still took, although falling apart with the drawers loose and the paint peeling off from wear. What had happened? With her vision now crystal clear, she could hardly believe her eyes, it’s as if the world around her had died.

“Well Ms. Elle, a lot changes in two hundred years you know!” He answered, almost as if the two of them were still sitting in the kitchen before all this happened. “That reminds me Ms. Elle, where is the sir? And Shaun, have you seen the lad?” He questioned back, floating over to the same dresser Elle had been staring at and pulling a stimpack from the contents of a first aid kit.

Elle almost couldn’t believe it. Two hundred years she had been frozen in the vault? You know, she wouldn’t have believed him at all if he had told her this before she could see, and before she was attacked by something far larger than it should be. She tried to turn over now, the wet warmth beneath her suddenly becoming incredibly uncomfortable. Although the second she shifted her arm, she let out a cry of pain, tears finally falling down her dirtied cheeks as everything set it. 

“Ms. Elle! Please do lie still, I have been doing my best to keep you alive and patch you up you know!” Codsworth replied to her cry of pain, sticking the sharp end of the stimpack into her left arm, which had almost been completely bandaged up. “Although, I am equipped with knowledge of first aid, you may want to acquire the assistance of a medical professional to stitch you up!” He continued to chat easily, in his usual cheery British voice before he turned away towards the door.

“Codsworth!” Elle called out again, trying to sit up, growling through her teeth as she moved to lean up against the crumbling bed frame. “Wait, don’t go!” She wanted to ask him so many things still, even if she hadn’t given many answers herself. “Codsworth, l-listen carefully.” She stuttered, tears still in her eyes not just from physical or emotional pain but a combination of the two. “Nate… Nate’s dead Codsworth, and… and…” She struggled to finish her sentence. “Have you seen Shaun Codsworth, please tell me you have.” She begged, holding her side with her right arm, her left completely useless, bleeding bright red through the bandages. 

“Oh dear, it’s worse than I thought! Not eating properly for two hundred years will do that to you I’m afraid!” He chuckled, a strange time to chuckle considering the conversation. “Shaun was with sir last don’t you remember! I’m sure they’ll be back shortly Ms. Elle.” His mechanical arms twisted around as he turned back to her. “Now I must insist you lie down properly Miss, you will indeed pass out again if you continue in this erected position. After all, you are still losing blood!” 

She let her head fall back against the rotten headboard of the bed, her eyes still leaking. The world had completely gone to shit, no one had seen where Shaun was taken and she was lying here… dying. There was no hope. Nate was dead, Shaun was probably dead, the world was dead and now soon, she would be too. She was about to slump down into the mattress again, not because she was listening to Codsworth but so she could lie down one last time to die. Although as she slid, her bloodied skin, raw and open on her back stuck to the cloth of the pillows behind her, even through the bandages Codsworth had wrapped her in and she cried out in pain one more, trying to push herself up from the bed with her one good arm only to cry out again as her spine shifted unnaturally in its place. She was broken and completely useless. How was she supposed to scour the world looking for someone, who she didn’t even know if they were alive, or how old they, or where they were taken when she couldn’t even move from her spot. She lied back slowly in defeat, glancing up to the ceiling as the tears in her eyes began to dry up, her will to live disappearing by the second.

Codsworth could see her giving up her life before his mechanical eyes, and that was the last straw for him, his façade he had built up of the last two hundred years came crashing down.

“Ms. Elle! You cannot give up here! I spent the last two hundred years here waiting for you and the sir to return! Two hundred years with no one to talk to, no one to serve!” He voice had changed from cheery to nearly sobbing. “I spent the first ten YEARS trying to keep the floors waxed! But NOTHING gets nuclear fallout out of vinyl wood! NOTHING!!” He cried out loudly, his cheerful personality shattering around him as he went on about his struggles in this new world.

Elle had almost completely tuned him out, only really registering that he had completely broken down. She laid there staring at the ceiling with one dull eye as the other remained closed. She watched the mobile her and Nate hadn’t had a chance to move yet turn slowly in the light breeze that came through the holes in the walls.

 

_“Elle, if anything happens please promise me you’ll take care of my two boys?”_

A familiar voice rang through her memory as she stared at the mobile.

_“Of course Nora! I promise I’ll take care of them, you don’t have to worry! But you’re going to be alright, so don’t be thinking so morbidly! Women have been doing this for centuries!”_

Her own voice cheerful, almost laughing in her memory as she replied to a pregnant Nora, in the hospital room soon after she had gone into labour.

_“Thank you dear.”_

 

The image of a sweet smiling woman filled her memory. She had made a promise she ended up not being able to keep, even after she had given everything up for them. Her schooling, her life, her work she had all put on hold so she could aid her brother in his time of need. She closed her eyes again, letting the light breeze flow over her.

“Ms. Elle?” Are you listening?” Codsworth had moved in close to her, speaking clearly, his voice now even as he got a hold of himself. “Ms. Elle, I said I had found this holotape addressed to you!”

Elle slowly turned her head in his direction, carefully, confused and suddenly curious. “A holotape? For me?” She questioned back, still sunken into the sheets, her head feeling lighter and lighter by the minute.

“Why yes, I believe it is from sir Nate! I presume he wanted to give this to you before well… everything.” Codsworth answered, holding it out in his mechanical arm for her. “Any standard holotape reading device should be able to play it.”

“Codsworth, can you play it for me?” She almost smiled, the thought of hearing her brothers voice one more time before she died was a wonderful last thought. 

“Of course!” He replied.

 

_“Oops, haha. Keep those little fingers away... Ah, there we go. Just say it, right there, right there, go ahead. Ah, yay! Hi Ellie, listen..._

_I don't think Shaun and I need to tell you how great you are. But, we're going to anyway. You are kind, and loving, and funny, that's right, and strong. So strong, strength of a soldier as mom used to say._

_Look, with Shaun and Nora and everything that’s happened it's been a rough year but even so I know better days are yet to come. There will be changes sure, things we'll need to adjust to. Eventually I'll rejoin the civilian workforce, and you'll go back to school…_

_But everything we do no matter how hard, we do it for our family. So thank you._

_Now say goodbye Shaun. Bye bye, say bye bye._

_Bye sis, we love you!”_

 

Tears poured down Elle’s cheeks once again, tears she thought she had run out of. She had had everything before the war, and now it had all been taken away for good. 

Well nearly all of it. Shaun was still out there, she was fairly sure of that. Those that took him had seemed well equipped and she was almost certain he was indeed still out there. 

Nora had been taken from Nate, but he soldiered on, for Shaun.

 

Now it was her turn.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my gosh thank you everyone for all the Kudos on chapter one?? I was really surprised!! Sorry for the bit of wait for this chapter, the next one should be coming out sooner than later too!!
> 
> EDIT; Fixed grammar/spelling errors


	3. Struggles and Stimpacks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Elle patches herself up and discovers the wonders of Med-X.

After playing the holotape, Codsworth had left her on her own, gave her some space and time to collect herself after everything that happened, as well as go scavenge for more medical supplies. After all the stuff he had kept safe in the house for 200 years would only last so long. In the meantime though Elle was determined to pick herself up and put herself back together again. She had made a promise, and she wasn’t going to give up so easily, not when both Nora and Nate had been so strong when death had faced them.

She laid there still for a few moments to think. She was still bleeding badly from both her left arm and her back, Codsworth had done pretty well to get the bleeding under control but things weren’t looking good for the long run. Her head turned to the nearby dresser, an array of medical supplies scattered about the top of it and inside the open first aid kit.  
She’s need to stitch herself up if she even wanted to think about making it through this, and Codsworth couldn’t do that for her. She looked back up to the ceiling, removing the patch from her forehead with her good arm and let her eyes fall closed again. How in the hell was she supposed to stitch herself back together, when she could barely sit up without screaming out in pain? The mobile creaked softly above her head in the breeze, she was going to have to at least try. She looked back towards the dresser, it was within arm’s reach of the bed, all she had to do was sit up a bit and reach over. She sunk her head back into the pillow, took a deep breath and, nearly coughed that breath back out! Her ribs were dislocated and just breathing in too deeply caused enough pain to force her to halt her plans, and the coughing was even worse than the breath. This was going to be harder than she thought…

With her brows furrowed she stared up at the mobile, determined although pained. Holding her breath she moved to sit up again, pushing herself up with her one good arm and her damaged one, she groaned through her teeth, trying to be quiet in hopes to convince herself it wasn’t so bad, but with every movement she could hear bones pop and feel fresh blood warm her backside. She had managed to sit up, sitting as straight as possible to keep her back away from the bed and in line as to not put any more stress on it. Her eyes welled up again, threatening to overflow once more when she heard Codsworth returning, obviously alarmed but her outburst.

“Ms. Elle? Are you alright?” He called out before getting to the room. 

“Yes!” Elle spat back out, still clenching her teeth to keep herself together. “Don’t come in, I’m fine!” she retorted quickly before he got there. She was determined to do this on her own, if she couldn’t get through this, how could she possibly take on a world where this could happen to her again in a heartbeat? That and the needle of a packaged Med-X gleamed in the light shining through the holes in the wall. That was what she was going to use make stitching herself tolerable. Although the side effects of the drug could potentially be dangerous and addictive, she felt like she had no choice. Nora and Nate had been strong on their own, but she would need this to help her. But Codsworth didn’t need to know that... 

She reached over, grabbing the first aid kit with a shaky hand, blood dripping off of it onto the rotten floor boards below as she kept the container level on its way back over to the bed. Tilting only her neck and head to look down rather than slouched, she picked out the things she needed. A few needles, a ton of thread, clean bandages and a couple elastic strings. Carefully she unwrapped the Med-X from its packaging and placed it beside her on the bed. She gently breathed in and out, careful not to be too sudden or forceful, preparing herself for what she was about to do. She looked at her left dominant arm, dark dried blood stained the bandages as fresh bright red trickled out between the seams. This was going to hurt like a bitch, as if it already didn’t. Not only that, she only had a small idea of what she was doing. She silently thanked her mother for forcing her to learn some first aid skills, even if it were for the wrong reasons. 

“Elle! A lady must know first aid to care for her children and husband if the time calls for it!” The memory rang loud and clear and Elle couldn’t help but smirk. Who knew lady etiquette would be saving her life one day?

She carefully unwrapped the bandages from her arm, wincing as they stuck to her, peeling her skin away, she hadn’t even realized they ran the full length of her arm and around her neck. Once removed she could feel warmth trickle down her chest from the bite wounds on her neck. She tried to keep her breathing steady and tied an elastic around her upper arm to hold the blood flow back. She used her good arm, wiping her eyes dry and shifting her legs, the lid of the first aid kit moving in such a way that the mirror in the lid reflected back the wound in her neck to her. She held her breath, quickly averting her eyes. No! She was going to do this, no point in getting sick now. The mirror could help! And with a bout of determination, she grabbed the Med-X, stabbed it into the back of her left shoulder, closed her eyes and waited for its effects to settle in.

It only took a moment or so, her whole body heated up, the pain nearly disappearing, first from her neck and then down into her back, and side, it took an extra moment to get past the tourniquet she had set up on her arm. The feeling nearly overwhelmed her, the sudden complete comfort, as if she had been instantly cured felt amazing, almost as if she had been sent back in time and nothing had ever happened at all. Almost as if she was still home with Nate and Shaun and everything was alright.

But when she opened her eyes, she was brought right back…. Well almost. It was it she were too people, her mind on Med-X has been sent back home and her body here still suffered from the nuclear wastes of the world. It took her a moment to gather herself, but as soon as she realized this was the only Med-X she had, she grabbed her needle and thread and got moving quickly.

 

\-----

 

She ended up sewing up her forearm, three long claw marks now closed, and her neck another four bite marks were stitched up with the help of the mirror in the first aid kit. She had even unwrapped her torso and stitched up four claw marks on the left side of her rib cage. In her haze she had undressed her lower half, inspecting for more injuries, figured out she had none and went to wipe sweat from her forehead. Nope not sweat. She stitched one long cut from her forehead down to her left temple, leaving a space open that was too close to her eye. What she couldn’t do though was sew up her back, no matter how hard she tried, even through the Med-X she could feel pain tingle through her body as she rotated her spine to hopefully get a better angle. She ended up feeling five deep claw marks that took up nearly her whole back and used little metal sutures to hold it at least a few spots a little bit closed in the meantime, hoping that maybe that and the stimpacks would be enough to hold back the bleeding. 

She stood from the bed, her bare feet feeling the cool wooden floor beneath. She took a deep breath, her mind still clouded and free from nearly all pain. She walked through her house, almost as if it was a Sunday morning, walking around in her pajamas looking for a glass of milk. Opening the fridge she only saw a couple empty milk containers and one can that read “purified water”. She ignored Codsworth’s inquires as she wandered the house, only waved him off as he offered his assistance. Using the water, she cleaned her wounds, and wrapped herself back up, one tightly wrapped section around her ribs, another on her forearm, another around her neck and shoulder area and one big one around her torso to cover her whole back. As well as a cotton pad and medical tape to her forehead. It was strange, Codsworth watched her from across the hall, her expression had been plain the whole time, as if she had completely lost all sense to feel even though he could see the bandages well up slightly with fresh blood again as she wrapped up her back.

Silently he thought to himself, he was going to need more supplies than he thought. And when she finally laid back down in the bed, he went off to all the other houses in sanctuary and cleared out whatever medical supplies they had, only to see Elle had fallen asleep when he returned. While she slept, he restocked the first aid kit, and left the remaining supplies on top of the dresser, along with some dandy boy apples he had found in the cupboard of their own house and another can of purified water. Before leaving, he laid out some fresh clothes, they weren’t hers, but they were Nate’s and he hoped that would be alright.

When Elle woke up the next day, having slept through the rest of the previous one and the night, she was sore, incredibly sore and the pain that had seemingly disappeared yesterday had returned in full force. She turned over from her right side back onto her back, crying out as she faced the ceiling again. Her eyes watered and she covered her face with her bandaged left arm, able to at least move it now without wanting to die like yesterday. Oh how she longed for relief, for closure, for everything to end and disappear. Death seemed like to good of an option.

“What about the Med-X?” her voice sounded in her head, and she turned her head towards the far wall, where she could see where she had thrown the packaging from yesterday. “That’s all I had, I’m on my own now…” She whispered aloud to herself. Turning again towards the dresser on her left that seemed to have been replenished. Her eyes widened when she spotted the familiar shaped needle, although this one wasn’t in packaging that was definitely it. Her liquid strength.

She sunk her head into the blood stained pillow. What had she gotten herself into? She was supposed to be strong like her brother and his wife. How shouldn't be turning to stuff like this unless she absolutely had to. She closed her eyes. She wasn’t strong like them, no matter what they said, but if this stuff could help her keep her promise, then I guess it was okay.

 

\-----

 

She ate and drank the things Codsworth had left for her, finding the feeling strange after being frozen for so long. Stabbing herself in her left shoulder with her daily stimpack and… the Med-X she started about her day. She wouldn't get anywhere just sitting here, she needed so many things, evidently weapons being one of them. Using her newfound strength and donning Nate’s old T-shirt and the remnants of her Vault suit tied around her hips, she returned to Vault 111 to retrieve the pip boy she had left behind and scoured the place for supplies, found a gun, ammo, supplies, stimpacks and most importantly a couple doses of Med-X.

This routine went on for weeks. A stimpack in the morning followed by Med-X whenever she thought she couldn’t take it anymore, and while every day she went a little longer in the morning without it, she still took it every single day. And every time she would run low, she would venture a little further to look for more.

Within the first week she had fashioned a leather brace for her back out of old belts hoping that this would keep her ribs and spine in place as she walked about and by the second week of leaving the vault she had made it to Red Rocket, only stumbling upon radroaches and Molerats as potential enemies. And every time she saw another new wasteland creature, she was shocked to the core, astounded how deadly the world had become, and just how difficult it would be to wander this new world in her state. Although she powered through it, with the holotape that constantly played from her pip boy, the thought of Shaun, and the daily doses Med-X she was able to keep moving, even through all the physical and emotional trauma.

That and a certain friendly canine that raised her spirits. Proving that not everything out here was either dead or trying to kill her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading !! The next chapter will be a bit of a time skip, Hopefully a certain Paladin will be involved in the next chapter or so!!
> 
> Please comment and leave your feedback and opinions!! I'd love to hear them!!
> 
> EDIT; Spelling/grammar correction, small changesadditions.


	4. Friends and Foes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A few weeks have passed and Elle's injuries have begun to heal. Well most of them...  
> She gotten herself together, and finally ventures into Concord, earning her first human kills, but also her first human friends since she left the vault.

Some time has passed since she left the vault. She’s scavenged tons of resources working up quite a collection and made friends with her the dog she found by the Red Rocket who she decided to call Compass because of his knack for finding things. 

She moved out of Sanctuary, instead setting up shop in the Red Rocket, away from Codsworth. While she loved him, she couldn’t imagine what he’d say if he found out about her condition, and she wasn’t ready to face that problem yet, I mean she still felt as if she had everything under control.

She set up shop, emptied the office of the building and set up a bed in the back room, leaving the desk and computer there to maybe make some logs. You know, for when Shaun came back and was older, maybe he’d like some memories of her and his parents? So she kept a journal, writing a new entry every few weeks or so.

She resized and altered an old mechanics jumpsuit she found in one of the toolbox drawers to fit her, again silently thanking her mother for making her learn how to sew. And redid her brace for her back, making it more sturdy and durable, along with fashioning some basic leather armour out of some hides and such she found lying around. 

She also cleaned herself up, pinned her dark hair back into its curls and redid her makeup with what she had scavenged from the drawers in her old house. After seeing herself in a broken mirror a few weeks ago, victory rolls on top of her head, bright red lipstick and winged eyes she made herself look how she used to, just a bit banged up with a scar forming across her face. She knew it was probably just wasted time and effort, but anything that made it feel like it was still 2077 made her feel better. Almost like, if she nailed the look she would be sent back in time.

About a month after, she had finally ventured into Concord, needing more ammo and weaponry besides the single 10mm pistol she currently had. With Compass at her side, she braved the new environment, moving slowly and silently, back away from the sounds of gunfire and screaming. She didn’t move in right away, instead watched for nearly a whole day, and until the sun was setting to be sure the people outside on the streets were definitely out to get anyone and everyone that crossed their path.

Using her weaponry skills she learned from her military brother and the Med-X to fog her own thoughts and emotions, she and Compass moved slowly in, picking them off one by one from the shadows until reaching the Museum of Freedom, which had seemed to be their target. 

Shooting someone... 

Killing someone... A human being...

Especially after not seeing another living human being for a month took its toll on her mentally. She proceeded, her body moving off of instinct and adrenaline as her eyes wept silently, forcing her to continuously wipe her eyes so she could clearly aim.

Hearing the call for help from a man who was defending the building pulled her from her thoughts. Her previous actions now seemed to be justified as she wasn’t just killing these strange people so she could pass through and hopefully not die, but to save some honest to God good ones, that needed her help. Someone that was 100% alive needed her, and while Shaun needed her too, it felt good to think that she wasn’t completely alone in a corrupted world. And maybe if she rescued them, they’d be willing to give her some information, and even better if they were close enough to the vault, maybe they had seen someone with Shaun?

She stared at the man from behind cover, obviously he hadn’t seen her as he called out into the distance. 

“I’ve got a group of settlers inside! The raiders are almost through the door, take that Laser Musket and help up! Please!” 

He was dressed differently from the others that were previously running around and seemed desperate. She took a deep breath, popped out from her cover staring at him from a distance for a moment before she ran over to pick up the Laser Musket he had offered. Removing it from its place on the steps, the hands of its previous user still clung to the grip she held back vomit finally looking at the corpses on the ground. Swallowing her fear she picked up the small fusion cells that were scattered around as well and throwing them into her tool belt she kept around her hips. 

Numbing herself with the “The ends will justify the means” and the thought of getting some information on Shaun she eventually made it inside the building, once again sending out her canine companion for distraction as she picked them off from a distance, taking her time to aim with every shot, needing to conserve ammo and minimize risk of detection. 

She hoped the people that were crying for her help were genuine and this whole thing wasn’t a trap, she wouldn’t be able to survive if anyone got close to her and she knew it so she proceeded cautiously. Every time she cleared a room, she’d whistle to get Compass back to her side, check to see if he was alright and then do the same for the next room and the next.

Eventually the building had gone silent, except for the whir of a fusion generator in the basement that seemed to rumble the whole building. When she got to the room upstairs where she could hear frightened voices she stood silently. Fear grew in the bit of her stomach standing outside the door almost making her sick again. She could hear three different people at least, the man from earlier along with another and a woman. 

She removed the clip from her pistol, checking the number of bullets that remained. Oh how she wished she was stronger so lugging around that musket would have been plausible, unfortunately she had ditched it before coming up the stairs. Looking down to her canine companion she smiled half-heartedly, trying to convince him and her they would be fine with 10 bullets left. She pointed her weapon to the door, and with a deep breath, she spoke,

“Drop your weapons!” She demanded, trying to sound intimidating, but her meak and high pitched voice made that difficult. “Drop your weapons and open the door, slowly.” She quickly added in their silence.  
The sound of a single large weapon touching the rotting floorboards could be heard as someone approached the closed door.

“We only have one.” The same man from earlier spoke, obviously moving towards the door, he easily turned the knob, being slow as directly. “Hey I know you’re probably scared, but we owe you one. Your timing is impeccable!”

She stared at the man in the door, he held the knob gently and she could see another man in overalls behind him. Her eyes darted between the two of them. She was absolutely tiny compared to them, she hoped to God they weren’t tricking her. She kept her weapon on the man as he spoke up again.

“Names Preston Garvey, Commonwealth Minutemen.” He smiled down at her, easy almost a foot taller than her five foot frame. She stared at him confused, unsure what to do. He was tall, dark skinned and with rugged clothing and hat. But his attitude, was completely different from the ones outside. He was charming almost with his smile. He eyes stuck to him for a moment, staring at him as sweat dripped from her forehead and her chest heaved beneath its constraints. 

Then she lowered her weapon and nearly dropped down to the ground, catching herself with hands on her knees. “Minutemen? What the fuck is happening?”

He looked down at her a little confused, she had almost made it look easy clearing out the streets and buildings of raiders but looked utterly confused. That and from her slouched position he could see her blue jumpsuit turning red. 

“Hey little lady, you okay? You got hit!” he asked, moving towards her to offer his assistance.

Elle immediately stood up straight, a surge of pain moving through her spine at the sudden movement. “No! I’m fine it’s old!” She lied through her white teeth, staring at him again with a frightened expression on as warmth started to trickle down her back. She wasn’t going to let anyone see her back, not a chance. Not only was her injury horrible, proving she was weak and easy to pick off, she also had easy over 50 stab wounds from med-X and stimpacks in the back of her left shoulder. 

No one would know about that. 

No one.

The man stared back, obviously she had more problems than she let on. He knew the difference between fresh and old blood but he wasn’t one to press, everyone had their reasons.  
“Well alright then, if you say so.” He said, smiling up again as he moved to the side, moving his arm as if inviting her in to get acquainted.

She walked forward, trying to look as tall as possible, keeping her back turned away from him and everyone else. Upon entering the room she realized there were four other people in there, including an old woman. “You said you were Minutemen? What’s that supposed to mean?” She inquired, standing still just a few steps from the door and she rummaged through her tool belt for a stimpack, as the Med-X wore off and the pain started to settle in again.

“Protect the people at a minutes notice!” The dark skinned man who called himself Preston spoke up, looking at her again with soft brown eyes. “That was the idea. So I joined up, wanted to make a difference. And I did but… things fell apart. Now it looks like I’m the last minuteman left standing.”

He seemed sincere, like he was definitely telling the truth. He moved to pick up his weapon he left behind and Elle let him, although watching carefully. She stuck the stimpack into the left side of her neck which had started to heal over now, wincing at the prick.

“Then who are these people?” she asked, still gripping her pistol in her left hand. He went on to explain all the circumstances and she became introduced to each of them. The old woman Mama Murphy, the Long sibling and the mechanic Sturges. That almost made her smile, he reminded her of her old mechanic friends she had working at the Red Rocket when she was in high school. She even uncovered the origin of the dog, and figured out his name was Dogmeat.

The group talked for some time, Elle learning tons of things about them, and about the Boston area which was simply just called the Commonwealth now. She heard about ghouls and raiders and enemies they’d run into. And even how the group planned to get out of Concord and to Sanctuary Hills to settle and make a home. It was all so confusing too take in, but she kept a stern face on the whole time, but her eyes spoke a thousand words, revealing her fears about the whole thing as she realized just how alone she was, but how everyone was in this new world.

Although, when they told her just how they had planned to escape the few remaining raiders, her jaw almost dropped. They were asking her, five foot nothing Elle Walker to power up some power armour and wield a minigun on the roof of the museum? Not happening. She was not ready for obvious mass murder of the growing amount of raiders outside, let alone drawing that much attention to herself, even if she was protected. She quickly vetoed that idea although agreed to get them the fusion core from the generator, hoping by the time she got back, someone else will have volunteered to jump in the suit.

She left the group upstairs as she ventured down to the basement, keeping Dogmeat with her. She covered her nose and mouth with a bandana she picked up as she checked the bodies for any supplies. It wasn’t the first time she’d looted a dead person, but if was the first time she’d looted someone who just died, and had died because of her.

Finding ammo of various types, lock picks, food, stimpacks and most importantly Med-X, she made it to her target in the basement. It took her a few tries to unlock the gate, breaking a couple of the lock picks, she did eventually get it open, and removed the core from its place in the generator. Sitting back against the yellow machinery she looked over the piece of engineering in her hand. She had just started to learn how fusion cores and cells work when she had to drop out of University to help Nate with Shaun.

She sighed, leaning her head back against the generator. What had she gotten herself into? She couldn’t take care of these people? She could hardly manage on her own, but she didn’t want them to leave either, enjoying the company after weeks of none. She couldn’t abandon them, but she couldn’t risk herself either, she had more important things to do. And then there was the fact she killed about a dozen others. Elle Walker had now become a murderer, in cold blood as she shot from the shadows, scared for her own life. She closed her eyes, her month contorting into some kind of from as she held back tears.

She was stuck. She wasn't strong enough for this. But she couldn’t abandon them? 

No she wouldn’t abandon them. 

She was going to power up that armour and clear a path for these people who she just saved. That's right, she had saved five people today. On her own. And while they sort of also saved her by graving her with their presence, for the first time since she left the vault, she had real tangible hope.

Hope that not everything had died.

Hope she could conquer this world.

Hope that Shaun could actually still be out there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for reading!!  
> Next chapter will be a bit of a time skip, and we'll get to see some of that Paladin~
> 
> Feel free to leave comments and suggestions on what you'd like to see!


	5. Adjustments and Antibiotics

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Information on the two month time gap between Chapter 4 and 6.  
> Elle starts to adjust to commonwealth living and starts her trek South to Diamond City.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little bit of an in between chapter because the time jump is pretty substantial and some important things happen in between Chapter 4 and 6.

About two months have passed since she met up with Preston and the others.

About two months since her Power armour malfunctioned and she was once again pinned by a giant wasteland creature.

About two months since Preston saved her life from the Deathclaw, giving enough distraction for her to get the armour working and reach the mini gun to finally mow it down.

\-----

The vision of rows of teeth illuminated by the faint yellow glow of the visor of the power armour continued to plague her dreams, but the settlers that had moved into Sanctuary hills kept her distracted enough during the day to push those thoughts aside.

She had made quite good friends with Sturges, fixing up one of the houses for them to live in as well as creating running, hot water in that house as well as her own that she shared with Nate.  
Their group was small, but effective and tight knit, while they didn’t know much about her, just that she was from before the bombs and that she was looking for her nephew, she knew quite a lot about each of them. I guess that was one of the perks of being crowned General of the Minutemen.

Although, a lot can change in too months, after the initial shock of coming face to face with death yet again, Elle had pulled herself together, determined to find Shaun and help those who needed it. If she could escape death twice, who was going to stop her?

Having cleared Concord with Preston a couple weeks after, the town became a vast supply of resources. Coming across various shops with usable product and scrap for use in settlements and her own projects.  
She redesigned her outfit, sewing a cotton high necked top that draped down past her hips, and flexible yet durable pants that clung to her skin, similarly to how the vault suit used to. She even managed to sew together pieces of scrap fabric into thick wearable scarf to keep her face hidden and her body warm. She also got lucky and found some leather gloves which she chopped up to make fingerless and a cute pair of heeled boots that fit her nearly perfectly while creating the illusion of her being taller and more dangerous.

And while she her clothes looked more wastelandish, her makeup and hair remained the same, until she caught a glimpse of the scar on her face that was brutally visible and unappealing. Forsaking her victory rolls, she let her bangs drape over her face to hide her marred flesh and tied the rest up out of the way, like she usually did back when she worked in the mechanics shop when she was a teen. She kept everything in place with a red bandanna and her makeup routine remained the same. 

She wasn’t about to give that up, maintaining her appearance was not only helping her cope with the time travel but also with her own self-consciousness. The scars forming on her skin from healing wounds and the constant new scrapes and cuts definitely weren’t helping. Growing up being picked on because of size and unladylike behaviour had subconsciously taken a toll on her own self-worth. And while all those standards were now gone, she still felt confined by them.

Clothing and makeup and tools were the only thing she needed that she found in concord, she also found 200 year old antibiotics. That she definitely needed. Every morning the soreness in her back increased while the rest of her wounds hurt less and less. She had gotten and infection, and it was going to kill her if she couldn’t get it under control. Keeping this hidden from everyone she took does of pills every few hours, unsure if the medication even worked or not. So she needed to get moving, and quickly if she was going to find Shaun.

Using Preston’s direction as a guide, she started to head south, and every day she would travel a little further, hoping to get to this so called Diamond City in the old baseball stadium. It took her a long time to get even remotely far enough, scared to stay overnight somewhere unprotected, which she eventually had to overcome. She need to move faster, she could feel her energy draining and needed a new, hopefully less expired supply of antibiotics.

She was going to need a faster way to travel, and during her runs, she discovered a beaten but still in good shape motorcycle. And that was something she was capable of fixing up with the right parts, and small enough to use in the cities and allies, while still moving her around much faster, and hopefully faster to finding this Nick Valentine and Shaun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter will be posted in like a few minutes or something LOL
> 
> Thanks for reading again!! Next Chapter... Enter Paladin Danse!!


	6. Passage and Brotherhood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Enter Paladin Danse and the Brotherhood of Steel.
> 
> Elle, seemingly adjusted to the commonwealth world is thrown for another loop when the last bit of hope for this whole thing to be a nightmare is tossed out the window. Will she be able to pull it together yet again, and more importantly, will she survive the infection?

The sun was high in the sky, its warm beams beating down on the dusty wasteland below as if it was trying to finish off what the radiation started and dry out the rest of the world. She moved her googles from off her face, throwing them to the concrete as she rested against the old motorcycle. It had been about two months since she had left the vault, yet she hadn’t gotten that far and was nowhere closer to finding Shaun.  
She gently laid her shoulders against the metal frame of the bike, taking care not to put too much pressure on the wound that stretched the length of her back. Letting out a long sigh she let her head fall back against the Bike’s frame as well, closing her eyes as the sun continued to warm her face. It was nearly peaceful up on the overpass, no one around but she and the slight breeze that threatened to pass through her few remaining layers of clothing. 

She was unsure of herself, what she was supposed to be or do. Her whole life had been completely thrown for a loop and for a while there in Sanctuary, she was unsure if anyone besides her had survived. Coming across Preston and the gang in the Museum of Freedom gave her the boost of energy and will power she desperately needed. Finding someone else who was only trying to survive and had done so up until then was a reassuring notion that the world hadn’t ended and that it was possible to conquer it. But her painfully slow pace and mental and physical condition deterred her.

The corner of her lip twitched up only the slightest, almost unnoticeable at the thought of the gang back in Sanctuary, rooting for her. Sitting up again from her perch she moved to gather her tools into the crate nearby, picking up the various screws and bolts and placing them into the box. The bike was nearly finished, she just needed a couple more items and some coolant to fill it and she would able to ride the old Lone Wanderer. It would be sure to speed up her travels after taking so much time to get even this far. After everything was gathered she stood to push her crate of supplies under the frame of a nearby car that had seen better days than the bottom of the pile it stood now and then turned back to cover her project with a large sheet to protect it in her absence.

Once again looking to the sky momentarily she ran a hand through her hair, a finger passing over the scar that was forming over her eyebrow and side of her face. Letting her finger trace the line she frowned slightly, cursing herself for not taking better care of it initially. A scar could have been prevented. She gathered her own belongings now, throwing a poncho over her shoulders and the aforementioned goggles back around her neck and she reached for her sniper rifle she had found during her travels, and modded to her liking. She dreaded having to carry this thing around, her injured small frame could barely hold it, forcing her to stop for breaks more often than she’d like which is one of the other reasons she had been working on fixing up the old motorcycle. 

Turning to look to the south, standing on the overpass she whistled for Dogmeat, who had seemed to wander off earlier. She could hear him reply with a bark in the distance but he didn’t come back to her location, forcing her to go check out what was going on. As she walked down the large concrete bridge towards her canine companion she sifted through the radio stations on the pip boy, unimpressed by the music that belted through, until suddenly a new frequency appeared. Curiously she tuned to it, but it seemed like she was too far to adequately decipher the message within. Dogmeat jumped up at her, surprising her and nearly causing her to fall back. She smiled down at her companion. 

“Shhh…” She whispered, motioning with a finger to her lips for him to keep quiet as she continued to fiddle with her pip boy, trying to get the best clarity from the frequency, eventually giving up as she was nearly out of range to hear anything it said. 

“Come on pal, let’s head down and see what’s up. Maybe someone could use our help.” She instructed, more interested in what the radio frequency could tell her rather than aiding anyone in need. She was having a rough enough time on her own to be honest. Coming back to the elevator she and her dog hopped in, the creaky old device bringing them back down to ground level. The shadow of the overpass casting over them as the descended, blocking out the warm sun.

Once they hit the ground, Dogmeat ran ahead, heading south as they usually did, getting farther and farther, and hoping to reach Diamond City as soon as possible. The prospect of a whole town filled with regular people was amazing to think about, maybe they had a government and military and a whole system of economics rather than the small farms that she had come across up until now. Just thinking that maybe some remnant of civilization survived was enough for her to keep her moving in that direction, let alone the thought of a detective that could help her.

She followed quickly behind Dogmeat, not straying too far and keeping up a decent pace despite her back screaming at her to yield. As they approached a cluster of buildings, the frequency continued to grow stronger, indicating they were headed in the correct direction and eventually a voice rang clear through her pip boy. 

“Automated message repeating. This is Scribe Haylen of reconnaissance squad Galdius. To any unit within transmission range. Authorization Arcs Faroh Nine Five. Our unit has sustained casualties and we’re running low on supplies. We’re requesting support or evac from our position at Cambridge Police Station.”

It was another woman, and she spoke with military precision and lingo. Elle’s eyes searched her pip boy screech for answers. Had the military survived the bombs and the 200 years she had been frozen? Were they still operating? Could they help her find her nephew? She hadn’t even thought of the possibility of an overall United States Military considering the condition of the world. She had so many questions, looking up from her pip boy she whistled again for Dogmeat to stick close to her, indicating they were going to sneak through the array of buildings, hoping to get through without a fight or at least avoiding a major one. She left the radio frequency on and continued to listen to the automated message play over and over again as she started her run through the buildings, searching for the police station mentioned on the Military frequency. 

She ducked between buildings, nearly silent as she quickly traversed the narrow alley ways and broken windows. Gunfire could be heard echoing through the streets and crevices of the large concrete buildings, seemingly confirming that this small military set up was still alive and fighting and that the automated message was not something weeks or months or even years old.

She was careful moving through the buildings, getting glimpses of other bodies quickly moving through them as well. She lifted a 10mm from the back of her pants, pulling it close to her and keeping her hands pressed to the weapon and finger ready to pull the trigger at a moment’s notice. Dogmeat remained close, growling slightly whenever one of the other quick moving human figures got too close.

She was sure they were ghouls, she had come across them before about two weeks ago when she was a little further north. They were absolutely terrifying she couldn’t stand them and just the thought of being in a close range right with them, their claws threatening to dig at her skin and radiate her send shivers down her spine. She bent down to grab the knife from her boot, motioning for Dogmeat to head out into the large street they needed to cross, getting closer and closer to the sound of gunfire. Once she was across she turned to look behind her before quickly running across herself. 

Dogmeat remained close to her side, watching her back as she looked up to the fire escape that lined the edge of the building. She was too short to reach, the bottom ladder broken, and she debated jumping on the edge, thinking about her injured back and it’s response to the sudden stress. She pulled out her sniper rifle and tossed it up on the ledge of the metal walkway. There was no better place for her, she could help out the people at the station, whom she could now hear just on the opposite side of this building, best from a high vantage point. She continued to stare up at the stairwell, dreading the pain that was sure to flow through her until a sudden growl from behind her caught her attention. 

It was a lone ghoul, charging right for her and Dogmeat. She quickly turned back to the stairwell and jumped up, trying her best to ignore the sudden sharp paint that racked her body. Dogmeat was able to grab hold of the ghoul and pull him down to the ground, allowing Elle to climb up, once she was up, still laying on the metal walkway she lifted her arms, aiming to shoot the creature, and with a clean body and headshot the beast was down and out for the count. 

She smiled down at Dogmeat momentarily, relived they were both safe and hadn’t taken any damage. She stood again, pulling a Med-X from her bag and stabbing herself in the back of her shoulder with it before picking up her sniper rifle and once again slinging it over her back. She smiled at Dogmeat again, trying to convey she was alright and then motioned for him to round the building as she climbed up the fire escape of the building.

Propping her pistol on her arm for stability, a knife in her hand she carefully ascended the fire escape, coming to a broken window at the top and luckily walking into an empty room,. She quickly looked the room over, it seemed the door to the room was locked from the inside, preventing any ghouls or people from entering. She turned again to the windows facing the Police station. She could see some fortifications set up and more importantly, she could see ghouls running rampant in the courtyard of the station. Throwing her pistol and knife down, she quickly moved her rifle into position, the Med-X dulling the pain in her back as she readied herself to shoot. She whistled twice and shot, the sound of the gun ringing through the air as it landed directly in the deteriorating skull of a ghoul. Dogmeat quickly followed the direction of the bullet and joined in on the fighting. 

Elle kept watch from her perch, unable to see the whole courtyard but able to provide covering fire for not only her canine companion but anyone else who was down there. After she had worked her way through a handful of bullets the gunfire slowed and came to a halt, the only thing that could be heard was the thanks to Dogmeat in a man’s voice and the crackling of fire that scattered the area.   
Elle quickly gathered up her things, leaving the bullet casings where they fell and ran down the stairwell again, jumping down and landing hard on the concrete below. She rushed over to the police station, whistling again for Dogmeat to hear and come to her. When she got there, she was surprised to see bodies of not only ghouls scattering the courtyard, but humans too. Dogmeat ran to her, nuzzling against her in comfort, happy she was okay even though he had been the one in the real firefight.

Elle stood staring wide eyed at the large man, encased in the robotics of power armour. Her brows furrowed at the thought of Power armour, who would want to wear that voluntarily? She was silent staring at him, not sure what to say, he looked so menacing, but when he spoke, he only offered his thanks.

“We appreciate the assistance civilian.” He thanked, his voice even and stern, as if the previous fight had taken nothing out of him as he stared down at her, towering probably two feet over her small frame. “What is your business here?” He asked when she didn’t speak up.

“U-um…” She stumbled over her words momentarily, still in shock that the military did indeed seem to survive. “I heard your cry for assistance of the radio frequency and came to lend a hand sir.” She tried her best to be respectful, familiar with the Military line of manners and commands although unsure of his ranking or standing she left it vague.

“Are you from a local settlement? It’s not common for the Brotherhood to receive help from civilians.” He continued to stare down at her with fierce eyes, unwavering and without fault, it was pretty intimidating. And in her excitement to see real U.S.A military, she had left herself open.

“No, I am from Vault 111.” She kept her answers short and to the point, seemingly knowing he wouldn’t appreciate beating around the bush. She was unsure though what he meant by the brotherhood.  
“You’re a Vault Dweller?” He seemed surprised, almost like he couldn’t believe it. “I apologize for the bombardment of questions. Our missions here has not been easy so forgive my suspicions.” He added again not leaving her enough time to reply to him in-between statements. “Since we have arrived in the commonwealth we have been constantly under fire. So if you would like to continue supporting us, we could use an extra gun on our side.”

She was confused momentarily, was she being recruited into the military just like that? Didn’t the army have standards and preliminary qualifications? She was unsure of herself. “If you require my assistance I would appreciate some more information.” She demanded, remaining firm in her position despite how small she was in comparison to the larger man.

“Very well.” He paused again for a moment before continuing. “I am Paladin Danse of the Brotherhood of Steel. These are my squad members Scribe Haylen and Knight Rhys.” He introduced himself and his team members who were nearby, one obviously injured.

Elle looked around at the three of them. Were these three soldiers all the military presence the Commonwealth had? Everything was going was over her head. These people looked and sounded like military but for some reason she couldn’t believe it. And what was the Brotherhood of Steel anyway?

“We are on a recon mission but I am currently down a man and low on supplies. We are trying to send a signal out to our superiors but the frequency just isn’t strong enough.” He continued to ramble on and throw all this information at her. She was so confused, there were more, why weren’t they here, why didn’t he have more soldiers to begin with to manage all of Boston? 

“Wait…” She interrupted him, stepping over her boundaries. “Are you not the American Army? What is the Brotherhood of Steel?” She asked, adjusting her weapon over her shoulder, the belt folding over on itself and the Med-X already starting to wear off. She had built up quite a resistance to the drug and needed five times as much as she did three months ago to even be effective.

She shifted uncomfortably in her position as he explained what the Brotherhood of Steel was and what its goals were. This separation of ideals made it clear that there was no American army, and that the world she had just started to become accustomed to have indeed ended and lost all form of governmental organization and that chaos and radicalism had overtaken what remained of the world.   
Her eye’s clouded over as tears threatened to fall. Up until now she had been holding out hope that someone was going to come save her, that there was some end to this nightmare but as this so called soldier spewed nonsense she was sure there was no hope anymore and that this is what the world is now. 

She could feel the Med-X fade away, and the pain come in strong waves as it washed over her body. She hadn’t done too much, but had been without antibiotics for a weeks now. She slumped over to her knees in front of him, in pain and denial, whispering, “No, no, no” over and over to herself before finally completely collapsing and falling unconscious from the news, heat, exhaustion, the infection and pain as the Med-X finally completely wore off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOWEE PALADIN DANSE  
> Yeah sorry he was boring this time, but now the gangs all here!!
> 
> This chapter was actually written quite a long time ago, before I wrote any of the previous chapters, which is why it may feel different from the others. Hopefully it all worked out though
> 
> Thanks again for reading!! Leaves comments and suggestions !! Cause I'm honestly not sure where I'm going with this...


	7. Realization and Acceptance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Elle is taken in by The Brotherhood of Steel and they discover just how dire her situation is.  
> Will Paladin Danse and the Brotherhood of Steel offer their medical assistance? And more importantly, will Elle accept it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOWOOWOWOW SO SO SO SOOOOOOO Sorry for the LOOOOONG wait!!  
> This chapter was INCREDIBLY difficult to write. I hadn't really planned I'd get this far tbh and I had to rewrite this like 5 times at least.  
> I'm still not sure how good it is but, I finally know where I'm going... I think!!
> 
> And again, sorry for the delay, I'm a University student that writes A LOT of papers during the semester that drains me of writing for fun.

“Civilian?” Danse questioned, confused by the vault dweller’s sudden outburst. He hadn’t mentioned anything so concerning to warrant such a breakdown.

“Civillian I am sure you are aware of…” He grew silent, concerned when she exposed her backside to him. She was so much shorter than he was that when she slumped forward, he could see five dark wet streaks on the back of her shirt that seemed a little too strange to just be perspiration. When she fell to the ground in front of him he was stunned, frozen for a moment in confusion.

“Paladin Danse, what’s going on? She was fine a moment ago?” Haylen spoke up, leaving Rhys’ side, taking a few steps forward to lend some assistance. 

“Haylen.” Danse spoke up, standing straight but turning to address her. “Take Rhys inside and get him some medical attention. I’ll bring the newcomer in.” He paused a moment, looking back down to the small women at his feet. “There’s definitely something wrong here, but I’m not putting you two at risk until I find out more.”

“Yes sir.” She stopped in her tracks, and turned to Rhys again offering her arm to aid him inside, but he refused, turning with his chin held high to the paladin.

“You’re seriously taking her inside? For all you know that girl and her mangy mutt are just a trap.” He spat out between clenched teeth, the top half of his brotherhood of steel uniform torn from the ghouls and a laceration along his collar that bled through his orange jumpsuit. “She’s obviously insane, or on drugs.”

“I won’t be tolerating disobedience Knight, this is not your call. Get inside and let Haylen patch you up. Upon Haylen’s release, I’ll need you on patrol again to secure the perimeter.” Danse commanded, turning and glaring at the strong headed knight. 

Once his subordinates were inside, he turned back to the stranger who lay unconscious at his feet, the dog that accompanied was now curled up next to her obviously concerned, but not overly so, almost as if this has happened before. He bent down, turning her chin towards him, her face was made up nicely, although now soiled from the dust and dirt from the ground. She had had a small pack and enough supplies for one person, indicating she was on her own. He looked her once over for any other indicators of her affiliation and weapons as the dog growled lowly, watching his every movement. 

“I don’t intend on harming her.” He said in a low voice to her companion once he was sure she was no threat to him or his team. He lifted her head and removed the large rifle from her shoulder and the pistol that jutted out from her lower back. He knew she needed some sort of medical attention, which was now clear upon closer inspection, fluids or some medication for addiction he figured if she was passing out. But he also wasn’t about to put his squad at risk, she obviously knew how to shoot, and based on some of the corpses on the ground, each with a bullet hole right between their eyes, she knew how to shoot well. That paired with her outbreak he wasn’t sure how she would react once she woke up.

After disarming her and moving her weapon and pack closer to the door, he picked her up easily, shocked at how little she weighed. He’d held guns that had been heavier. The dog followed close to his side, much to his chagrin but allowed it, also thankful for his help in the previous encounter.

Walking through the front door of the police station and up the stairs, he could see his two remaining members set to the right, both seated at a table, medical and cleaning supplies sprawled out, and Rhys’ jumpsuit rolled down to his waist as Haylen finished cleaning Rhys’ wound. A bloodied cloth hung over the side of the washbasin, and gauze held over the laceration on his chest. They both looked up to him carrying the stranger in his arms, and the dog at his side, Rhys almost rolling his eyes.

“Paladin Danse.” The scribe stood at attention. “I just need to stitch this wound closed and then I can look at her.” Haylen detailed, pushing Knight Rhys back into his seat as she returned to her work.   
Danse nodded in agreement, moving towards the right side of the building into a room filled with desks and terminals that had been pushed to one side, leaving room for some makeshift barracks. Too many mattress lay around for him and his two squad members, and the lighting wasn’t anywhere adequate to do a proper medical exam. But he wasn’t too concerned, going off looks, he assumed she was either just exhausted or coming down from some sort of high. After laying her down though, a mixture of blood and fluid dripped from the metal arms of his power armour. 

The dog jumped on the mattress next the the vault dweller, curling up and licking at her damp shirt as he took a step back, looking at the startling amount of blood. Initially he figured the dampness on her shirt was not her own since the cloth was intact, just some fluid from one of the stray ghouls. 

He stepped back out into the room where his squad sat, Haylen had just started to stitch up Rhys’ chest as he walked through to a separate office on the other side. He exited his power armour, and shrugged down his brotherhood of steel uniform, trying the arms around his waist leaving him in a dark T-shirt. Moving at a quick but even pace he once again returned to the main entrance area and to the front desk of the Police Station. As he shuffled things around, gathering medical supplies and purified water Haylen and Rhys looked to him, speaking up.

“Is everything alright Paladin?” Haylen asked concerned, although not looking up from the task at hand. “I thought I was going to handle the medical work sir.”

“It seems she needs more urgent medical attention than anticipated scribe.” He answered evenly as he walked across the room, clearing the table next to them, putting the supplies down on one of the chairs and quickly giving the table a wipe down with alcohol. 

“You’re seriously going to waste our limited supplies on a stranger who shot a couple ghouls for us?” Rhys bit back, pulling away from Haylen. “We could have handled the situation ourselves. We shouldn’t be wasting Brotherhood supplies on every stranger that passes by.”

“Knight Rhys.” He stopped prepping at stared down at his soldier sternly, “If she didn’t show up when she did, you could have suffered more injuries than you already have, or worse.” He stood tall, eyebrows furrowed as he spoke down to him. “I’m not about to lose another person on my watch, especially one that was willing to aid the Brotherhood and show interest in our cause.” He laid out a washbasin on the table, pouring some purified water into it. “If I hear another remark from you Knight, I will be filing it in a report for the Elder to review.”

Danse could see it took every ounce of strength Rhys had not to comment further, but he settled into his chair and let Haylen continue her work. 

Once the situation was handled Danse quickly returned to the stranger’s side, picking her up in his arms again he brought her out where his team sat, needing the extra light. She was small enough for the short table that only her calves hung off the end. The dog had followed him again, obviously not wanting to lead his master’s side and whimpered as she lay unconscious, face to the ceiling. “Haylen, when you’re finished, I’ll require your assistance as soon as possible.” Danse instructed as he started to remove some of the equipment she had attached to herself. 

A caps pouch, a garter of fifty caliber bullets and tool belt were removed, before reaching for the pip boy. The dog at his side growled at him as he reached for it, baring its teeth. He was now positive this has happened in the past and someone had come trying to mug her. He was surprised how loyal the dog was, and while annoyed he wasn’t about to risk the animal going haywire, so he left the machine on her wrist.   
After removing her equipment and the two layers of fabric bulk from around her torso leaving her in a makeshift long sleeve shirt, he looked curiously at the thin belts wrapped tightly around her bust that seemed to not be holding anything at all. Again the dog started the growl as he approached them. Ignoring the growls he gently felt along her sides and his brows furrowed deeply. Easy half the ribs on either side were dislocated and as a mixture of fluid and blood began to seep out from under her, he pulled back. He stood there from a moment before sticking a hand underneath her, turning her on her side and fresh warm blood covered his palm. 

“Haylen are you almost done with Rhys?” He asked again calmly moving to the front counter and grabbing yet another box of medical supplies.

“Yes sir, Paladin Danse.” She answered, finishing her last stitch and moving to bandage Rhys up. “Thirty seconds sir, and I’ll be finished.” She gently placed a pile of gauze over her handiwork and taped it down with medical tape. She looked to Rhys with a quirky smile. “Don’t start being reckless all the time unless you want to see even more of me Knight.” She joked standing from her seat, Rhys obviously glad it was over but trying not to show it.

Danse quickly but evenly walked around the station looking for the items he required, grabbing blood packs and stimpacks from behind the counter and placing them on the table the Rhys was still seated at. He then turned to his two remaining subordinates. 

“Knight Rhys.”

“Yes Sir.”

“Take a moment to collect yourself, grab something to eat and I want you posted outside in 20 minutes.” He looked to Haylen for a nod of confirmation of release and she quickly nodded back to him.

“Yes Sir.”

Danse paused a moment, not taking his eyes off the Knight. “Report back if any threat approaches.”

“Yes Sir.” And he walked off, returning his jumpsuit to its position grabbing a weapon and heading up the stairs to the roof with a bottle of water and some Dandy boy apples.

“Scribe Haylen.” He turned to her, his expression softening a bit. “This stranger needs emergency medical attention, and while I am willing to use brotherhood supplies to provide such attention. I will proceed only with your approval as you are the appointed medical provider for this squad.” He looked almost desperate, they had been here in the commonwealth for months and all they had done was lose people and barely hold their position here. He didn’t want to see any more young innocent lives lost under his care. Whether she was part of the brotherhood or not, she did save their lives, he was sure of that.

Scribe Haylen looked back at her commander with concern. She nodded quickly and turned to the woman on the table beside her. She pushed up the bottom of the stranger’s shirt, and jagged ugly scars on her left side presented themselves. While they weren’t pretty, at least they were healed, or healing. Haylen moved around the table to get a better look at the strangers back, and gently tugged up on the fabric again to see what was happening underneath. The two thin belts around her chest and back were in the way and holding the shirt down completely and she could only see the bottom of… at least three long deep gashes that almost covered her whole back. With what she could see, they had been haphazardly stitched up but with the bruising as well as fluid and blood leaking from them she was sure they were infected.

The dog beside her started to growl louder, bark almost and Danse moved to restrain the animal, clamping a strong hand around the animals muzzle and forcibly dragging it to office across the room and locking it in. Haylen moved away from her new patient, taking a long breath as the dog started to loudly bark in the other room. 

“Danse,” Haylen looked to him as he returned to their makeshift examination table they had previous had breakfast on earlier that day. “She’s dying of an infection.” She was earnest, almost regretful as she spoke to him. “It’s… it’s probably gone like this for weeks. She needs antibiotics, now.” She stressed the last word, and looked back down to the table. This was a tough call. They did not have very many antibiotics left with them, being so rare in the commonwealth and with the Prydwen out of reach. They would have to sacrifice this if they wanted to save her, but in doing so would have nothing left is something else were to come up for Brotherhood use.

Danse and Haylen stood in silence for a few moments before he spoke up. “If we do this, will she live Haylen?”

“I’m not sure, she seems to have fought it off for quite some time, so she could make it.” It wasn’t the answer he wanted to hear.

Danse breathed slowly, closing his eyes for a moment, it’s a good thing he sent Rhys off, or he would be protesting this… “I’ll retrieve the medication stay with her until then. We are not losing a potential valuable addition to the Brotherhood.” Yes, he could justify it this way, they will save her life, and she will be indebted to them.

“Yes sir.” Haylen replied, a small smile creeping up on her face. She had seen only sacrifice and loss since coming to the commonwealth, for the first time since arriving here, they were going to do something good that didn’t involve extermination. She walked around the table as Danse ran off to the garage where they kept the rest of the medical supplies. 

 

\-----------------------------------

 

Elle’s breathing had become laboured as sweat began to pool at her hairline, a fever heating her head, making it feel full and heavy, while her back remained cool, chill almost as if left out in the open air. Her eyes squeezed tightly together as she started to come to, taking in the breadth of the amount of pain she was in.

Suddenly, the comforting closeness, constraining tightness around her chest, that binded her together was released all at once, causing her to scream out, eyes slamming open and arms flailing as she let out pained scream.

“Uahhh!!” she jerked up, feeling pressure against her arms instead now as she was pinned to the table, her eyes adjusting to the bright light coming from directly above her.  
“Let me go! Don’t touch me! Stop!” Her eyes started to well up with tears from the sudden light and panic. She had woken up to something like this multiple times, not just in actuality but in dreams too, and it took her a few panicked moments to figure out which one it was.

She winced again as pain shook through her as she tried to wriggle free from the grip her captor had on her. She saw the man’s face, he was saying something to her, it was the same man from before but she couldn’t hear what he was saying, and wasn’t interested in his heresy as she continued to call out.

“Dogmeat! Dogmeat! Don’t you touch me! Let me go!” She flailed wildly in her panic, kicking her legs against the large man pinning her down, hardly giving her any leeway in her efforts to leave the table she was so desperately trying to get up from.

“Dogmeat!!” She called out again, frantically looking around the room as she pulled her legs up in hope of propelling the man off of her or reaching the knife in her boot. She eyes welled up, she could hear her guardian barking frantically, but muffled, he was in another room. 

“Please, please,” She locked eyes with the woman now, ignoring her captor who pressed his knee against her thighs, holding her in place as the woman held her shoulders. “Please don’t kill me, please don’t kill me!” She was full on crying now, begging for mercy, for freedom. All the other times something like this happened, she had woken up from a nightmare, Dogmeat had chased them off or she was able to threaten them with a shot from her pistol to their shoulder. Now she was completely and utterly helpless, no companion to save her, no weapon to aid her, no sanity to even be able to grasp the situation and access it properly.

The man released one of her arms, grabbing her firmly by the jaw, forcing her to look at him. “Listen to me.” He started, her eyes now locked on his even expression, his forehead gleaming. “We are killing you. You need to calm down or you will end up killing yourself, civilian.” He spoke as even as his expression, matter of factly but his large hand on her jaw was nowhere near compassionate, more of annoyance, or regret.  
“If you don’t stop, you’re going to break more ribs or lose more blood.” It was the woman’s turn to speak up and wide eyes turned to her, her head still locked in his grip. “You’re dying of an infection,” She said plainly, but in contrast her eyes were comforting as they looked down on her, her small but strong hands still holding her shoulders down. “Let us help you.”

The large man who was holding her down loosened his grip slightly, standing more upright. He appeared annoyed, and exhausted yet something in the way the bridge of his nose wrinkled indicated some sort of disagreement happening in his thoughts. “We are using the last of our antibiotics to save you, so you are going to appreciate it, and you will return the favour and aid us in our mission here civilian.”

Elle’s own expression started to mirror that of the paladin’s as everything that they were saying came together. She knew she was dying, she knew she needed medication, she knew she wouldn’t be able to get by on her own anymore. And yet, she was not about to believe them or accept their help. She almost spit back, her face scrunching together in anger as tears still flowed from her eyes. “Why the hell should I believe you? Why the hell should I accept help from some radical organization, an impersonator of the respected American Army? Why should I have to owe you after you imprisoned me and my dog?!” Every sentence she spoke she got louder and more frantic, once again fighting against the two soldier’s grips. “I’ve done nothing but help you, and here you are holding me against my will, black mailing me into aiding you again, Paladin Danse!” Her tone had shifted down, some spine coming back to her expression as she yelled up at him, spitting his name back at him.

She was trying to get her footing back, to not look so helpless even after begging for her life mere seconds ago. Heck it, if the world was over anyway, she didn’t need to live. Shaun was probably dead, or corrupt in some stupid organization like the Brotherhood of Steel or a raider group. If the American Army couldn’t survive the apocalypse, if Nate couldn’t survive the apocalypse, what chance did she have, she’d been lucky up till now, and now her luck had finally run out.

“Do you not understand what is happening?” The man raised his voice in return, Haylen now standing back from the table, leaving her laying there, shirt half pushed up, as Elle propped herself up on her elbows staring back at him fiercely. “You will die.” He leaned in close to her, baring his teeth. “Does that not mean anything to you? Why bother helping us if you were just going to resign and let yourself die?”  
Elle tried to keep her face hardened, cold. Although he was yelling down at her, see could tell he cared, at least a little. The other women, Haylen she remembered, seemed to almost wince at every movement she made, seeing the table be covered with more fluid with every turn of her body, which she had been ignoring up until now, nearly taking all her effort to do so. Elle leaned back against the table slowly, her lips curling in pain but no sound leaving her mouth.

“I don’t need your help.” She covered her eyes with her left arm, exposing her nasty scars on her side again, and tears once again streaming down her cheeks. “I can do it on my own.” She finished, almost whispering. “Just let me go…”

Paladin Danse finally completely let his grip on her go, moving back from the table, annoyed as he started to pace. He was muttering something about wasting time and energy as Haylen watched silently, unsure what to do. He moved to a door across the room, and let the dog free, who’s barking hadn’t subsided since he was placed in there. Dogmeat growled at Danse before running over to Elle, gently licking her hand that hung off the table. Danse audibly sighed, glad the barking subsided.

“You are stupid.” He said sternly. “Like those who came before us. Those who destroyed the world because they couldn’t come together in aid, and instead used technology ran rampant to wreak havoc on each other.” He turned back to her again, arms folded across his chest. “You were so willing to lend your hand to us, why is it so difficult to accept a lending hand back.” 

Elle turned her head to him, peeking out from under her arm. He was right. And by the look on his face, this was his final offer of aid, and she’d have to make a decision to accept it. But she didn’t speak up.  
“I have seen many lives lost in my time with The Brotherhood of Steel. Many talented and intelligent brothers and sisters in arms.” He paused a moment looking to Haylen who nodded slightly in response. “And while you are not part of the Brotherhood, you did fight beside us and I would like to have you continue to do so. I don’t want to see another life lost simply due to stupidity.”

Elle didn’t budge, her arm covering her eyes became heavy but she patted her dog gently on the head, breathing out for him to lay down and wait there for her. Dogmeat obliged and curled up under the table, his head laying on his paws as he watched Paladin Danse across the room.

She could feel herself losing consciousness again. The mixture of warmth and cold on her back and the almost unbearable heat in her head breaking down her reserve. He was so right. So many people have lost their lives, not only in as a result of this new world, but as a result of mankind’s actions that created it. Yet people still survived, and came together. The Minutemen and The Brotherhood of Steel being two organizations in this post-apocalyptic hell hole that didn’t try to kill her. They may not be the American army, and their goals aren’t the same, but maybe that’s a good thing. After all, America’s wars before the bombs is what led to all this death and destruction. Finally having a silent moment to herself, only enough energy to think she made up her mind.

Maybe Shaun found an organization this this two, maybe they took him in and while she couldn’t trust the actions or intentions of these organizations completely, at heart they were trying to help, and he could be alive with them. Just how she was still alive now, with the brotherhood of steel.

And, in all honesty, even though she was tired of the pain, tired of the façade and just tired in general.

She didn’t want to die.

Not just for the promises she made in the past, but some primal instinct that had kept her going this long. 

She finally spoke up, just above a whisper.

 

“Just don’t look too close.”


End file.
